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Moving out, Skaneateles village offices leave downtown

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William Dougherty, right, and Rob Kustyn, left, wrestle a filing cabinet onto a Ryan's Moving truck Monday as they move the Skaneateles Village Offices to a new building at 26 Fennell St.
(Charley Hannagan|channagan@syracuse.com)

Skaneateles, NY -- Monday was moving day for the village of Skaneateles offices and Adam D'Amico couldn't be happier.

It was the day D'Amico, the village codes, zoning and fire inspection officer, finally moved up from his office in the basement of the former village offices at 46 E. Genesee St. to a new office with... wait for it, windows.

"It's got a lot of things going for it," D'Amico said of the new offices located in the old fire house at 26 Fennell St. Easier parking, better lighting, and topping the list is an office with climate controls, he said.

D'Amico said he won't miss working in a windowless office, without air conditioning, where the brick walls retained the August heat until October.

The village offices were closed Monday and Tuesday to accommodate the move, and will reopen Wednesday in the new building.

For more than 80 years, Skaneateles' office in the center of the downtown overlooked East Genesee Street, the center of retail and tourism in the village. The rear windows had prime lake views.

While the village hall was quaint, the offices were spread out on three floors and customers had to park in pay lots or in metered street parking when doing business there.

The new offices are on one floor, consolidating the village offices with the police department. The move is being done in stages and the police will move into their offices later.

James D. Webb of The Iron Works of Michael Mattessich, welds on the exterior structure of the former Skaneateles Fennell Street fire station that will soon become the new village hall. Mike Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com

There is a large parking lot surrounding the building, which is close to a Tops Friendly Market, Kinney Drug, CVS Pharmacy, an SECNY Federal Credit Union branch and the U.S. Post Office.

The village sold its lakefront offices last year for $830,000 to a Chittenango developer who plans to renovate the building for residential and retail use.

Workers began renovating the old fire station in January. Skaneateles recieved a $546,493 grant form the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to offset the costs of making the new offices more energy efficient.

On Monday, the village offices sported new carpeting, gleaming Formica counters and large green plants. Framed maps leaned against the walls of the large room where the village board will hold its first meeting in its new home on Thursday evening.

What the new hall doesn't have is a front entrance. Workers were welding steel on the front entrance Monday morning and for the time being everyone will need to enter and leave the building by the back door, D'Amico said.

Contact Charley Hannagan by voice or text at 315-470-2161, or channagan@syracuse.com, on Facebook at Neighbors West or on Twitter @charleypost.